India’s digital public infrastructure appreciated by global banking body
Recently Bank for International Settlement (BIS) has endorsed India’s Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA).
- DEPA is a joint public-private effort for a better data governance approach. It creates a digital framework. This framework allows users to share their data on their own terms through third party entities such as consent managers.
- The first use of DEPA has been in the financial sector. It contributes to greater inclusion and economic growth.
- It is being tested in the health sector as well as in other areas.
- DEPA India forms the last layer of the stack.
- India Stack is a set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). It allows governments, businesses, startups and developers to access a specialized digital infrastructure. It is targeted at non-attendance and paperless and cashless service delivery.
Importance of DEPA
- It helps people to have seamless and secure access to their data. In addition, it also gives the right to share it with third party institutions.
- This includes private ‘consent manager’ institutions. They ensure that individuals can securely provide consent for shared data and protect data rights.
- It enables small businesses to easily access affordable loans, insurance and better financial management products.
- This reduces transaction costs and increases competition.
About Bank for International Settlement (BIS)
- BIS was established in the year It is owned by 63 central banks. Reserve Bank of India is also a member of it. It’s headquarter is in Basel, Switzerland.
- The function of the BIS is to assist central banks in achieving monetary and financial stability through international cooperation. It acts as a bank for the central banks.
Source – The Hindu
